Monthly Archives: December 2011

Nowadays it’s hard to get all 5 Hos altogether (the 5 Hos are comprised of myself, momma Ho, poppa Ho, sister Ho #1 and sister Ho #2…there was a 6th, but she is now happily purring in cat afterlife…meow meow I miss you, Smokey) since we’re scattered all over the globe, but good fortune fell upon us this year and made spending the Christmas holidays together happen. Colour me ecstatic!

My parents are currently settled in Barcelona and after a lot of pondering, analyzing, weighing the pros and cons of where we should have our reunion we ultimately decided that, although it’d be nice to spend Christmas buried in 20 feet of snow in Canada like the good ‘ol days or in England where we could feast on battered fish/battered sausage/battered chocolate bars AND play in the drizzle every single day, Barcelona was the most…practical choice. The truth of the matter is, my parents aren’t getting any younger. They now take Centrum plus (aka old people vitamins), have more grey on their head than black, take afternoon naps, and have been known to forget my birthday…and my name…

So you must understand there was a slight hesitation in spending the holidays in 18°C weather, wandering a city that is known for architectural masterpieces with food that is sure to delight the palate…but for the sake of our parents’ health we decided to just suck it up and be good and dutiful daughters and traversed the many miles to Barcelona, Spain. Life’s all about sacrifices, isn’t it? 😉

Highlights include:

1. Walking along Passeig de Gracia, admiring all the high-end stores, filled with treasures I’ll be able to afford in 5 lifetimes

Me- “Oooh…Valentino!”

Dad- “Is that a chain store?”

2. Playing Taboo with the family…it’s a miracle we haven’t divorced each other. Playing board games without an impending family war is nearly impossible. Do you fancy an example? I shall deliver.

Sister- “Ok dad. We went here last year, in January”

Dad- “last year…I don’t remember going anywhere last year…”

Sister- “Historical architecture! Circular! Fighting!”

Dad- “I don’t know…skip it”

Sister- “dad! One of my favourite movies! WHERE DID WE GO LAST YEAR?? Pizza!!”

I’d describe my job searching experience as being similar to Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi episode (Season 7, Episode 6). You wait in line, hoping to taste the best soup of your life (i.e. You fill out applications, go to job interviews) only to get to the front of the line to hear “No SOUP JOB for you!

Gone are the days of mass emails and spamming friends and family back home with content-loaded tri-annual updates. I’ve emerged from my time capsule and have decided to join the 21st century’s digital world. Here is my blog. I have joined the Digirati.